Rail-joint.



Nb 872,477. 7 Punk mum s; 1907.

w. P. THOMSON.

RAIL 701m".

APLIOATION FILED FEB. 8, 1907.

2 SHEETS-*SHEIQT 1.

" h H k I 7 r, i V x "hmum'ron k m ggwtwwf mixkw 'W.-P. THOMSON.

RAIL $01 APPLIUATION IILED rim. a, 1907.

PATENTED DEG. 3,1907.

wrmesss Pavia-mow ends of the rails, it has been the common- WILL-1AM emnoms'on, "on rrutansisrnia.'PnNNsXLvAnrA.

To all whom itmoy concern; I

Be it known that 1, WIL IAM P. THOMSON,

v ,of- Philadelphia, Philadelphia county,.Penn- :sylvania, have invented anew and -useful Rail-Joint, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accom anyi'ng drawings, forming part of this spec cation, in which- .Fi'gures to 12, inclusive, are'side views of,

different forms'of .rail joints embodyin iny invention and hereinafter more particu arly descrihedi My. invention has lrelatiion' to joints,

andis desi ned to provide a jointwhich-is especially adapted for use under modern conditions, in which locomotlves and cars of greatly increased weight cause, aniexcessive loading. of the tracks. It.has been found 5 that thisexeessive loading produces so great Kae a-deflection in the tracks that the tendency I of the rails to creep ahead of the loadhas been correspondingly increased; and, therefore,

under these; conditions, the joint creeps forward with the'rai-ls toward the tie-in front-of the joint and away from the tie in the rear 4 of the joint, unless spiked or otherwise fastened to both ofthese ties in the manner commonly practiced. The front of the joint "is understood to mean the end in the direc tion" in whichtheload isv moving, and. the

. rear of the joint the'end, away from which the load is movingafter it has passed the abutting ends ot't-he rails.

supporting ties with reference-to the abutting practice. to rovidethe front and rear portions'iof eaci of the splice bars' with spike slots 01' other meansfor anchoring'to'the tiest e-prevent the creeping of the joint forwardover the ties; The funther "development of the art, however, has introduced various extensions of splice bars below the base of, the

rail: which in; any casemay be given a. bearing against.- all or a portion-oh the 'r-earside ofthitie' adx ance-ofithe abutting ends. 05- the rai',-

My-invention relates. -to a -spl'ice bar uai-' symmetrically designed in the manner h ei'e' inaiiter clearly. set forth, s'o that a fined spac- ,ingef. the tiesmaybe maintained without 'f'astenin this bar inany lone f/tie way to more than Specification of Letters ZPatent. h Applioatiolrfiled February 6. 1,907. HarlalNo- Siil'hOZlinot be-dirawnalong by the usual: spiykiaiig bethe abutting ends of: the rails. isgradiaally in? v Therefore, in v order to. maintain a fined spacing ofthe' two practically commercial-joint.

t-s'upporting ties; but, at the'same; time: that it is-thu's made-practicable; to shontentheiorward portion-0tthe splieebar;v therear portion isamade longenthamtlle tom 't ave ieenfec. ,19 7:

' Wardportion sethatspiking onothertasteni I in'g facilities may "be afi'ordied for anchoi'ingthe splice barqto the-reartie. Inthiswayfl the rearrportion willidna-w thereaF-tie ahead along to the seine-extent that the creeping" rails carry the splice bar along with: them. Itha's been determined practice; that,..

when the creeping ot the thesis pnononneed,

it is impracticable to do awaywinh a ream-455 we rdly, extending portion which provides; spiking facilities to the rear tie, Iheeanse in that case the tie in. the rear oli the joint. will cause-of thefao-t th at the grip ofi'tlte spikeen the foot of the. iS lHQdGqMtlGFl'IOI keepthe "rail r mcreepiIi-g between the: head; oilthior spike and: the tie; Theresultis theref oreg,

that the spacing between the' two tiesnemest creased by the rear. tieflaggingbohind and-the front tie being pushed ahead by the downs It is, enerally recognized amongengineers that, fo r high speed traeks} carryingheavy considerably. closer than is; necessary el'sewhere. along the unbroken raih While this practieohas; been the; outgrowth of defioiena cies in the mil joints mostpgeneral use,

ties more closely together in order to:

er greater supporting resistance to the de tion of the abutting. endsfofsthei rails, the practice has, however, becomeso'wellestab and must be recognizedin the design:- .ofi as My construction and arrangement inde pendent; of any partienlarw formof thedee pending portion or .flange,.'or of the body of the'bar. In the s'ahcompznztyin drawings, I have. illustrated a number ofi' different fonds; of splice bars embodyin nmy' invention, y it may also be embodiedv innumerous other orms.-

Inthe several iigiiiiee 0t the-d1 numerals. 2"and; 3 designate the'ra.-ils',l4e e a madvance 0f.- the"joi n1t',l and 5.- the tie' in rear; of.-thejoint. 6 designates tho; splice bars whioh,jyin, alllthei-formsshowng ha i I ein 'ed toyexte back. over the baseoft Q lzhjl a ovethe'tie 5 F ter the reception oi the loads, the tie spacing at the joint must be 8'5 which have made'it'nece'ssary to'place the 9 lishedas to be.- recognized as: a fixedeustona 1.

10.5 a 1 p eervarm' or .extensi i' o woman. at in 1 i 'f ieiilt t n-in l .posite dizeetion, thisln arm or extehsionyh 1" .110 being P dM-Withmoans,preferably? {spike slots.

tom of the depending pro ection.

.spikes 8, whereby it may be anchored t-o tlie I Fig. 2th e depending projection 10 ot the splice bar is shown as curved: at: both its front and rear edges, the former beingadapted to engagethe, tie 4. In these two figures, 5 the flanges Q zand 10. areireely depending. 1

' The dependiiig flangesor portions of the bars 1 at opposite'sides of the rails may, however, be connected together.

so "connected b .In the; constnic'tion shown'in Fig. 5, .theends of the s hoe bar are out or shearedobliquely, as s own-at -13, the oblique cut at the forward endextending down to thebot- In the construction shown in Figs. 6 and 'T,

-' the forward. end of the baris in the term of a compound. curve 14, 'the curves in the two.

. figures being shown as of reverse form. Fig. 7 also shows the bar, as having a shorterfront arm or extension than ii1 Fig;'6,ivitl1 a greater length inthe depending projection 15.

' ;ln Fig. 8 the splice bar is shown as of that form in which the-portion extending below i the lower face of the base'of the rail turned inwardly underneath the base to bear against the same, instead of depending ireely between theties. i F 9. sl10ws'ajoint 'sii'n -ar to that shown I in Fig. 8-, with the exceptionthat only one of the splice bars, (the; one on the iartherside looking at" the figure), extends underneath the. base of the rail., Although two or more bars of the same or varying conformations may be necessary inall cases to the for' mation of the complete rail joint, it'will be obvious-from the foregoing that only one of the bars need involve theprinciple oiii'ny in,-

vention; since the rear portion ofthisbar,

- extending backward over the rear tie, may 1 be'ancho'red securely to that tie through the mediu m of one or-rnore spikes engaging one Fig. 3' shows them y bolt 11, while Fig. 4 shmvs them connected by a clamp 12. t'op bearing of the forward-portion of the rail, and over one or more lies. These ribs or'ilnngps may be joined to the depend-.

ing'portion 1b by meansoi the gussel's ltf. v

,ln'Fig. 1]! a joint is shown in .which two. bars of sllllllhtll formation are, placed 111 re-' what 'diil'orei-lt or n. and having obliq up ends. Tlns arrangement, particularly as lllust-rated geous in practice,;on account of the increased the barunderneat'h thehead of the rail. As. before, statedpvarious other" forms of bars maybe used in carrying outjniy invention, the particular shape and cross-section 1 thereof being immaterial.

Inaddition to the advanta es alxivefidethe fact that the bars-are greatly. cheapened 'by reason of the saving of superfluous metal at the forwardends. Common practicein the drilling and designi of rail joint bars has heretoiore'caused bo t? ends-of. the bar to be of substantially the same length,- or symof the rails. By shorteni ed. In those types of bars'inwlii'ch the end ..inspection of-Figsxl; 3, 5 11 and 1-2 in which tie, which efi'ects a's'avingof about-on-h-alf in the shearing cost over present methods.

or more spike slots in the rearWa'rdly extending .arm." Therefore, since the principle, of

my invention may be carried out at-one side onlyof the rails, addit ional bars may be'added at this side, and oneor morebars usedat the opposite side,, such auxiliary bars being of any desired form, so ion as at least one of the bars. in the joint e1n%odies the essential. featuresabove described. Thus, in the joint shown in Fig; 9, the splice bar-16 may be an ordinary 'fish plate or angle bar, or a channel bar,'used either singly or in conjunction with. a bar 'orbloo'k of steel, iron; wo'o'd, insulating mater1al',or other substance.

'tical 'stifi'ness is largely recognized as essential to the proper-maintenance of safe and economical track;- ainountof additional metal required, and the more diificult manipulation in the finishing of the bars, hilsiiheretofore .added. greatly .to

larger factor.of 'stifi'ness is present.

.What 11 claim is.;.

below the-base oi the rail, and designedto fit on one-side of two adjoining rails andhav'ing reference to .21 vertical IOiUuBtrates another form Ariana s or-lygsfljavhich extendlaterally to a mlighwteeflei "Wheat f t e e -e t the ends of thebar an at right anghs to the bar; 'snbstantiailyasdescribedl A similar joint is shown-in Fig. '12. but-with the bars 01' somein this figure, will be" found-very 'ad'vantametrical, 'with reference to the abutting ends I the forward arms of the bars in the manner escribed; it is evi- .dent'that a large saving in material is effectportions of the'downwardiy extended flanges must be sheared away to make room for-the ties, a further material saving is eflected; .Th-is sill be more particularly apparent from Theseedvantages areof especial importancebecausepf thefadtzthat in recent years the whe el loads of engines and cars have in-v creased so" rapidly that the necessity for the i use of rail joints having a large factor ofsverbut the of 1 g 1. A splice bar having a portion to extend scribed, a further important advantage froni the manufacturers standp01nt,-resu-lts fron1- :only' the rear por ti on ofthe depent ng'fla e need. be'shear'ed away to make room fort ie' -'-120 the cost of aegniplete joint in-which this .BitCll': half of-its 'length unsymmetrical with" lane. equidistant from svegi'n A splice her having a portion to extend helow the base of the rail, end designed to fit on one side of two adjoining rails and having its end portions unsymmetrical with reference to a vertical plane through a point op vreil in e reverse position, the two arms 01' end portions of each her being of unequal lengths; substantially as described.

4. A rail ointheving each of its two splice hers unsymmetrical with reference to a verticsl plane through a. point opgoosite the meeting ends of the rails and epp ied t0 the opposite sides of the rails their longer ends extending in opgosite directions; substentielly as describe 5, A rail joint having each of its two splice bars similsr in form and unsymmetrical with reference to a; vertical plane through a point oppositethe meeting ends of the rails, and

applied to the oyposite sides of the rails so that the similar ends extend in op osite di-. reetions; substantially asdescribed r In testimony whereof, I have herefinto set my hand.

c WI'eijiAi/i P. THOMSON. Witnesses MGLEOD TnoMsoN, I E. A.'1\1OR TON. 

